So, I'm finally moved in, after what's seemed like an eternity of living a half-life: scrounging for my own possessions among shambles of disorganized boxes (no one to blame but myself). Of course, now I'm just rummaging for my clothes in somewhat more orderly boxes, but I've cooked in my new apartment a few times now, and that's when a place feels like home to me. My new home has lots of potential for gardening (er, of the front porch variety, that is) and is just a few blocks down the street from the weekly community market, all of which means lots of fresh produce in my recipe experimenting future!
Of course, now that I'm semi-settled, the first thing I really want to make is some fatty, un-fresh, un-healthy comforting, chocolately summer goodness S'mores bars. I've had a huge craving for S'mores lately, most likely due to the unbridled placements of S'mores fixins in the most in-the-way places in the grocery store. I'm talking about chocolate bars, graham crackers, and the angelic fluffiness of pure corn syrup marshmallows. Every time I go to the Ray's or Safeway with a mind set to a healthy dinner for Caleb and I, I am bombarded by S'mores fixins, so of course I'm craving them! Sheesh. It is summer, after all.
Now, here's the thing, when I think of making S'mores, I always harken back to my childhood and recall the careful advice and instruction of Hamilton "Ham" Porter. If you've never seen The Sandlot, then, oh goodness, please make this S'mores Mess then, as it cools, hunt down a copy and watch this movie pronto. It's the epitome of summer kid movie, with an elegant smash of timelessness and characters who are champions of youthfulness and innocence. It's sooooo good (just like these bars). No summer, or childhood for that matter, is complete without a couple of "You're killing me, Smalls" or Wendy Peffercorn references (oiling and lotioning).
Back to S'mores, though, there is a classic scene in the movie when Ham teaches the never-failing naïve Smalls how to make S'mores. And it's worth a minute-long break from this post: